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Wanderlust Baby Cardigan

Another test knit under my belt. Another baby thing made for my knitting buddy (who is about to pop!). Another great design from one of my favorite people on Ravelry.

She calls it Wanderlust. It is a cute little top down, round yoke, baby cardigan with lattice detail. (My Rav project page here)

Three things about this knit.

1. The pattern calls for Springtree Road Coquina DK. I bought a skien of it for this knit. I don’t usually do that. I like to use what I have on hand or substitute another yarn just for kicks. But, the designer requested (not required) that testers use this specific yarn and I figured it was a good excuse to try something new. Well, as yarns go, it was okay. I don’t really like one-ply merino. It is fuzzy, and thick, and pills too easily. If I am going to go that route I much prefer to use Malabrigo Worsted because it is cheap (half the price of the Coquina DK) and has an amazing selection of colors. As it was, I had a choice between five tonal colorways, none of them very inspiring. Also, it was supposed to be a DK, but it was more worsted feeling and I had to go down a needle size to get gauge.

2. The pattern itself is well written, easy to follow, and turns out lovely results. The lattice work has a lot of stitches in each row, making this 0-3 month sweater take a lot longer than I had anticipated. But it was worth it. I love the detailing on the sleeves, especially, because it makes the top part poof out just a little like princess sleeves.

3. Test knitting is so fun. I enjoy the interaction with the designer, the solicitation of my opinion, and the exclusivity of knitting something that very few people have even seen yet. It is very rewarding.

Hi. I must say I’m surprised you didn’t care for the yarn. I used to spin a lot of yarn and the Coquina DK reminds me of a very evenly handspun yarn. I love knitting with it!

Springtree Road is really just me, Maya, doing every bit of the work. It is not a large company like Malabrigo, who can afford to charge less for their yarn because of the volume that they sell. I knew that I didn’t have a lot of color choices at that time, which is why I offered to dye any color any of the test knitters wanted. Maybe I should have dyed up a bunch before Helen asked for test knitters, but I was very near the end of my pregnancy and was trying to conserve my energy. I still don’t have many color choices in the shop because now I’m spending time with my babe, but I plan to have more choices before the pattern is published in the fall.

I also offered the test knitters 30% off as a kindness because I appreciate the work that you do, so often for free. I love working with independent designers, so I like to do whatever I can to help. When I read your point about it knitting like a worsted weight, I looked up other DK weight yarns and the Coquina DK actually has more yardage than most of them, so it’s probably just that there is more air inside a singles construction, rather than getting squished out when plied.

Thank you for taking the time to write. I am a little ashamed of giving your yarn a less than happy review after reading your comment. To be fair, I am not a big fan of single ply yarns as it is, so it my distaste for this particular yarn is kind of general. You did give me a great discount, but even so I still spent more on it than I liked. I understand the small business dynamic which is why I went ahead and bought it. And it did knit up into a beautiful baby gift whose recipient is well pleased. I just wasn’t wowed, and for the price I guess I expected to be. Perhaps a single ply gal would be?
All the best to you and yours.
Shelly